GB1585350A

GB1585350A - Scrapers for conveyor belts

Info

Publication number: GB1585350A
Application number: GB2434978A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1978-05-30
Filing date: 1978-05-30
Publication date: 1981-02-25

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO SCRAPERS FOR CONVEYOR BELTS (71) I, RICHARD FORSYTH LUKE, a British subject of Oxcroft Works, Boughton Lane, Clowne, near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- This invention relates to belt conveyors and in particular to a conveyor incorporating a scraper unit to scrape from the belt any material conveyed by the conveyor that tends to adhere to the belt during or after discharge and is an improvement or modification of the invention defined in my U.K. Patent Specification 1,304,631.

According to the present invention, an endless belt conveyor comprises, at its discharge end, a return drum around which the endless belt passes and a first scraper unit incorporating a scraper blade engaging the belt conveyor, whilst the latter passes round the return drum, transversely of the direction of belt travel and tangentially to the return drum and located at a point above or at the axis of rotation of the return drum, and a second scraper unit incorporating a scraper blade engaging the belt conveyor, whilst the latter passes round the return drum, transversely of the direction of belt travel and located at a point below the axis of rotation of the return drum, whereby all or substantially all of the material scraped by the scraper units falls with the bully of the material to wherever the latter is being discharged.

Thus, the conveyor according to the invention avoids, in the same manner as the parent patent, the conventional problem of having to provide means for the transport, disposal etc., of a large quantity of material removed by conventional scraper units that simply scrape material adhering to a belt onto the floor, whilst being more effective than the arrangement of the parent patent in circumstances where relatively large quantities of fines are involved e.g. with coal conveyors at power stations.

Each scraper blade may be spring loaded into engagement with the belt. In detail, each scraper blade may be supported by a pair of first spring strips, constituting mounting strips, and attached at their ends one to each end of each blade e.g. by screw means, preferably via a spacer. The first spring strips may be attached via pivot pins to an end plate in turn attached to the framework of the conveyor. A second pair of shorter spring strips, constituting damping strips may also be attached at one end to each end of the scraper blade e.g. by screw means, preferably via a spacer.

Preferably a mounting plate is attached to each end plate, the mounting plate having two apertures with nuts welded to the mounting plate coaxially with each aperture, and with a bolt screwed into each nut, one bolt bearing on a first spring strip and the other bolt bearing on a second spring strip.

The scraper blade of the first scraper unit preferably bears on the belt at a position approximately 100 in advance (considering the direction of drum rotation) of a horizontal line passing through the axis of rotation of the return drum, while the scraper blade of the second scraper unit preferably bears on the belt at a position approximately 100 in advance l(considering the direction of drum rotation) of a vertical line passing through the axis of rotation of the return drum.

The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a conveyor according to the invention discharging into a second conveyor; and Figure 2 is a side elevation of the scraper unit of Figure 1 to a larger scale.

In the drawings, a conveyor 1 has a belt 2 which passes around a return drum 3 at the discharge end 4 of the conveyor, the drum having an axis of rotation 5. The drum 3 is supported in conventional manner from a conveyor framework (not shown), the framework also providing support for the conventional troughing idler rollers (not shown) and return rollers (not shown).

In Figure 1, the conveyor 1 is shown discharging onto a second conveyor 6 comprising an upper run 7, a return run 8, a shield 9, and a centraliser 10 with fishtail leading and trailing ends 11, the conveyors 1 and 6 constituting a loading station or transfer point and being described in greater detail in, and the subject of, my Patent Specification 1,304,432.

A first scraper unit 12 is provided with a blade 13 basically of plastics material e.g. as described in my U.K. Patent Specification 1,515,061, located transversely to the direction of belt travel and drum rotation indicated by arrow 14 and tangentially to the return drum 3, and is in scraping contact with the belt 2 at a point 15 which is approximately 10 in advance (considering the direction of drum rotation) of a horizontal line 16 passing through the axis 5 of the return drum.

The blade 13 is supported by a pair of first spring strips 17 constituting mounting strips and attached at their ends 18 one to each end of the blade 13 by screw means (not shown) via a spacer 19. At their ends 20, the first spring strips 17 are attached via pivot pins 21 to an end plate 22 in turn attached to the framework of the conveyor 1. A second pair of shorter spring strips 23 constituting damping strips are also attached at their ends 24 one to each end of the blade 13 by screw means (not shown) via a spacer 25, the first spring strips 17 and the spacer 19. Also attached to each end plate 22 is a mounting plate 26 having two apertures 27 and nuts 28 are welded to the mounting plate 26 co-axially with each aperture.Into one nut 28 at each side are screwed a first pair of adjusting bolts 29, the ends of which bear on the first spring strips 17 to enable an initial spring loading of the blade 13 on the belt 2 to be set, while into the other nuts 28 at each side are screwed a second pair of adjusting bolts 30, the ends of which bear on the second spring steel strips 23 to place a damping effect on movements of the blade 13. A second scraper unit 3 1 is identical to the first scraper unit 13 except that the first spring strips 17 carry reinforcing strips 32. The scraper blade 13 of the second scraper unit 31 is also located transversely to the direction of belt travel indicated by the arrow 14 and tangentially to the return drum 3.This scraper blade 13 is in scraping contact with the belt 2 at a point 33 which is approximately 10 in advance (considering the direction of drum rotation) of a vertical line 34 passing through the axis 5 of the return drum.

In use, the first scraper unit 12 effects the major scraping action to remove material e.g.

wet coal fines adhering to the surface of the belt 2, whilst the second scraper unit 31 serves to complete the removal of any material that has escaped the action of the first scraper unit.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. An endless belt conveyor comprising at its discharge end, a return drum around which the endless belt passes and a first scraper unit incorporating a scraper blade engaging the belt conveyor, whilst the latter passes round the return drum, transversely of the direction of belt travel and tangentially to the return drum and located at a point above or at the axis of rotation of the return drum, and a second scraper unit incorporating a scraper blade engaging the belt conveyor, whilst the latter passes round the return drum, transversely of the direction of belt travel and located at a point below the axis of rotation of the return drum, whereby all or substantially all of the material scraped by the scraper units falls with the bulk of the material to wherever the latter is being discharged.

2. An endless belt conveyor as claimed in Claim 1, wherein each scraper blade is spring loaded into engagement with the belt.

3. An endless belt conveyor as claimed in Claim 2, wherein each scraper blade is supported by a pair of first spring strips constituting mounting strips and attached at their ends one to each end of each blade.

4. An endless belt conveyor as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the first spring strips are attached via pivot pins to an end plate in turn attached to the framework of the conveyor.

5. An endless belt conveyor as claimed in Claim 3 or Claim 4, wherein a second pair of shorter spring strips constituting damping strips are also attached at their ends one to each end of each blade.

6. An endless belt conveyor as claimed in Claim 4 of Claim 5, wherein a mounting plate is attached to each end plate, the mounting plate having two apertures, with nuts welded to the mounting plate co-axially with each aperture, and with a bolt screwed into each nut, one bolt bearing on a first spring strip and the other bolt bearing on a second spring strip.

7. An endless belt conveyor as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein the scraper blade of the first scraper unit bears on the belt at a position approximately 100 in advance (considering the direction of drum rotation) of a horizontal line passing through the axis of rotation of the return drum.

8. An endless belt conveyor as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein the scraper blade of the second scraper unit bears on the belt at a position approximately 100 in advance (considering the direction of drum

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. shown) and return rollers (not shown). In Figure 1, the conveyor 1 is shown discharging onto a second conveyor 6 comprising an upper run 7, a return run 8, a shield 9, and a centraliser 10 with fishtail leading and trailing ends 11, the conveyors 1 and 6 constituting a loading station or transfer point and being described in greater detail in, and the subject of, my Patent Specification 1,304,432. A first scraper unit 12 is provided with a blade 13 basically of plastics material e.g. as described in my U.K. Patent Specification 1,515,061, located transversely to the direction of belt travel and drum rotation indicated by arrow 14 and tangentially to the return drum 3, and is in scraping contact with the belt 2 at a point 15 which is approximately 10 in advance (considering the direction of drum rotation) of a horizontal line 16 passing through the axis 5 of the return drum. The blade 13 is supported by a pair of first spring strips 17 constituting mounting strips and attached at their ends 18 one to each end of the blade 13 by screw means (not shown) via a spacer 19. At their ends 20, the first spring strips 17 are attached via pivot pins 21 to an end plate 22 in turn attached to the framework of the conveyor 1. A second pair of shorter spring strips 23 constituting damping strips are also attached at their ends 24 one to each end of the blade 13 by screw means (not shown) via a spacer 25, the first spring strips 17 and the spacer 19. Also attached to each end plate 22 is a mounting plate 26 having two apertures 27 and nuts 28 are welded to the mounting plate 26 co-axially with each aperture.Into one nut 28 at each side are screwed a first pair of adjusting bolts 29, the ends of which bear on the first spring strips 17 to enable an initial spring loading of the blade 13 on the belt 2 to be set, while into the other nuts 28 at each side are screwed a second pair of adjusting bolts 30, the ends of which bear on the second spring steel strips 23 to place a damping effect on movements of the blade 13. A second scraper unit 3 1 is identical to the first scraper unit 13 except that the first spring strips 17 carry reinforcing strips 32. The scraper blade 13 of the second scraper unit 31 is also located transversely to the direction of belt travel indicated by the arrow 14 and tangentially to the return drum 3.This scraper blade 13 is in scraping contact with the belt 2 at a point 33 which is approximately 10 in advance (considering the direction of drum rotation) of a vertical line 34 passing through the axis 5 of the return drum. In use, the first scraper unit 12 effects the major scraping action to remove material e.g. wet coal fines adhering to the surface of the belt 2, whilst the second scraper unit 31 serves to complete the removal of any material that has escaped the action of the first scraper unit. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. An endless belt conveyor comprising at its discharge end, a return drum around which the endless belt passes and a first scraper unit incorporating a scraper blade engaging the belt conveyor, whilst the latter passes round the return drum, transversely of the direction of belt travel and tangentially to the return drum and located at a point above or at the axis of rotation of the return drum, and a second scraper unit incorporating a scraper blade engaging the belt conveyor, whilst the latter passes round the return drum, transversely of the direction of belt travel and located at a point below the axis of rotation of the return drum, whereby all or substantially all of the material scraped by the scraper units falls with the bulk of the material to wherever the latter is being discharged.

rotation) of a vertical line passing through the axis of rotation of the return drum.

9. An endless belt conveyor substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.